Planning to need government aid for graduate school

I was googling having kids during grad school, and was shocked by the number of people planning to need what I consider “emergency” aid to finance their life decisions. I believe that programs such as Medicaid and WIC serve an important purpose, because life is not always predictable and sometimes people need help to make ends meet. However I was shocked to see people saying they would quit their jobs, return to school, and plan to have a child by relying on such aid. Or, if having children were not an issue, return to grad school and plan on applying for food stamps. This is separate from something like government-subsidized loans in my opinion. Do you think this is reasonable, or do you think if someone does not have sufficient savings/other income they should delay school (or children, if that is relevant)?

Oh boy. Before you judge you need to educate yourself on what you are talking about. WIC is around $40 a month of milk, fruits and veggies. Medicaid covers medical only. Food stamps cover food only. None of the things you listed are high dollar amounts of aid, none are actual cash money and none of them come close to paying to raise a child. Highly highly inflammatory post backed with no real facts, way to go.

OP I actually think this is more an indictment of higher education/our economic climate that people who are not privileged in some way (i.e. have parents/family funding their education) cannot feasibly pursue advanced education and support a family at the same time without needing some type of assistance, whether it be loans or other government aid. We should be encouraging people to pursue higher education instead of saying that it should only be available to those who are privileged enough to have means to pay for it/the luxury of being able to forego income for years while they are studying full time.

@fallingleaves: HA. If FI or I delayed grad school until we could afford it, we would never br able to go. We’re about to take out about a 30k loan for his grad school soon, and if we could go on food stamps during that time, that would be SUCH a huge help, and would prevent is from going even further into debt. We both still work but when you’re going to school full time, having a job doesn’t quite cut it. Especially when you work jobs that don’t require degrees, since you’re still working towards yours.

I think this is an incredibly touchy subject for a lot of people. Personally, I would not feel right having a child I could not provide for while taking out more loans for my education, but who I am to judge someone else for their choices for a family?

@fallingleaves: I don’t have any issues with WIC or food stamps. Everyone should have food.There could be better planning for when to have children, but, life doesn’t always go according to plan, ya know?

DH and I are likely to defer his grad school, in large part because I cannot get any aid (due to immigration) and have a surprise pregnancy (so long as it sticks..). This will mean that the amount he contributes to the economy will be lower, as he is earning far less than his projected income after grad school.

I am glad DH’s taxes that he currently pays go into ensuring that other families are not in our situation. I think ignoring the future value of an educated populace is shortsighted and naive. I am happy to ensure that education is not a luxury for the elity.